Regional Forest Protection Program
A new program allows GTRLC to better achieve its strategic conservation goals by protecting the “glue” that ties together critical landscapes.
The Regional Forest Protection Program (RFPP), run by Conservancy staff with the assistance of a committee of seasoned experts, allows the Conservancy to look beyond individual parcels and protect entire landscapes. These landscapelevel efforts enhance ecological resilience, preserve migratory corridors for the flow of plant and animal species, protect air and water quality and blunt the effects of climate change.
To accomplish this, connectivity can now be used as the primary criteria for land protection projects. By placing a higher emphasis on connectivity, GTRLC’s land protection staff can protect properties that on their own may not have very unique or significant features, but that are essential parts of significant, larger landscapes.
The program is a logical extension of the realization that landscape-level conservation provides greater benefits than those gained from protection of isolated, disconnected parcels. And because overall landscapes vary in quality from parcel to parcel, it’s important to make sure land that’s critical for connectivity doesn’t fall through the protection cracks.
“Sometimes the mundane is what holds the significant and unique together,” said Vic Lane, GTRLC’s senior conservation project manager. “If we don’t have the connective glue and the connective corridors, we’ll see more and more fragmentation and a reduction in overall ecosystem resilience. So we want to start by examining these forested landscapes at a high level and honing in on parcels that are vital for connectivity.
“Some of these forested lands targeted in this program may indeed be less diverse or ecologically significant than others we have
Connectivity is Essential for Landscape-Level Species Resilience
Land
High Quality/Resilient Land
Potentially lower quality, but extremely important land for species flow and habitat connectivity
Potentially lower quality, but extremely important land for species flow and habitat connectivity
High
Land
High Quality/Resilient Land
Biodiverse lands with good ow within and between them provide species with places to move at both the site and landscape levels if their current habitat becomes compromised. ese factors tend to make them more resilient.
Biodiverse lands with good ow within and between them provide species with places to move at both the site and landscape levels if their current habitat becomes compromised. ese factors tend to make them more resilient.
Land
Potentially lower quality, but extremely important land for species flow and habitat connectivity
Potentially lower quality, but extremely important land for species flow and habitat connectivity
If the ow from one high quality area to another is blocked, species’ ability to nd suitable habitat is compromised and can degrade overall biodiversity and landscape health. Connective land, even if of lower overall quality, is critical for healthy landscapes.
If the ow from one high quality area to another is blocked, species’ ability to nd suitable habitat is compromised and can degrade overall biodiversity and landscape health. Connective land, even if of lower overall quality, is critical for healthy landscapes.
Regional Forest Protection Program Advisory Committee Members
Betsy Calcutt (also GTRLC board member) - avid outdoorswoman and longtime Old Mission Peninsula resident
Keith Kintigh - Michigan Department of Natural Resources Conservation and Certification Specialist
Steven Kraft – Retired Chair of Department of Agribusiness Economics at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale
Barbara Nelson-Jameson (also GTRLC board member) –Former Michigan Program Director for the National Park Service’s River, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program
Kurt Pregitzer - Retired college professor with a specialty in forest ecology. Dean Emeritus of University of Idaho College of Natural Resources
Josh Shields – Forestry Assistance Program (FAP) forester for Manistee and Mason-Lake conservation districts
targeted in the past, but their supporting role in landscape conservation over the long term is quite substantial,” Lane continued.
More and more attention is being paid to the ecosystem services that forests provide – things like groundwater recharge, soil erosion prevention, clean air, carbon sequestration, fire suppression, and how important they are to natural and human communities. All of these services are at risk or completely eliminated when larger forested landscapes are fragmented.
RFPP goals are accomplished primarily through conservation easements, which, as always, are voluntary for landowners. That’s where the “managed” aspect of the program comes in, as many of these parcels are expected to be sustainably managed as working forests. This preserves forest health while making the prospect of an easement financially viable and attractive for landowners.
“The reality of these lands that connect the landscape is that they often have to have a ‘purpose,’ and if they don’t they will likely be sold and clear-cut or developed. So the best functional purpose that aligns with the conservancy’s strategic goals is for them to be managed as working forests,” Lane said. “If they are managed in a truly sustainable manner and can produce timber income for the landowner, they will continue to serve our community by providing important ecosystem benefits.”
The Conservancy has also carefully evaluate lands it owns and will evaluuate any it may acquire to see where ecological management aligns with the broader goals of the property. Already we have designated and manage areas on some properties as “Ecologically Managed Forests (EMF).” Interpretive signage at those demonstration forests help inform visitors of the benefits of this kind of land management. The combination of ecologically managed forestland owned by GTRLC, managed forest conservation easements and properties that will be added to state holdings will provide increased and valuable protection for our regional tapestry of forests.
GTRLC’s long and successful history of restoration and management of habitat will guide care and management of conservancy-owned EMF sites. A long-term vision for each property will be established, starting with a staff ecologist determining the desired outcomes for each property over time.
A NOTE ABOUT THIS MAP MAP LEGEND
To help identify lands critical for connectivity, GTRLC’s land protection staff analyzed our region using data developed by The Nature Conservancy for zones that have both high levels of resilience (capacity of a site to maintain biological diversity, productivity and ecological function as the climate changes) and the ability to facilitate species flow/movement (shown in blue on the map). Within that zone we then prioritized parcels that are critical for landscape level connectivity and flow.
GTRLC Protected Land (Private & Public)
Other Protected Land
Resilience and Flow Areas
Priority Forestry Parcels - Tier 1
Priority Forestry Parcels - Tier 2
Priority Forestry Parcels - Tier 3
3860 N. Long Lake Rd. Ste. D Traverse City, MI 49684 GTRLC.ORG
Photo by Noah Jurik